Wildfire pollution may pose cardiopulmonary risk

Wildfire-specific fine particulate matter was linked to larger hospitalization risk increases than pollution from nonwildfire sources.

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Long-term exposure to wildfire-specific PM2.5 is linked to higher cardiopulmonary hospitalization risk compared to nonwildfire PM2.5.
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The study analyzed 57.3 million cardiovascular and 32.7 million pulmonary hospitalizations across 20 US states from 2006 to 2019.
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Each 1-µg/m³ increase in wildfire-specific PM2.5 was associated with increased hospitalization risk for various cardiopulmonary conditions.
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Subgroup analyses indicated higher hospitalization risks among racial and ethnic minorities and patients with obesity or diabetes.
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The study faced limitations including potential exposure measurement errors and lack of unique patient identifiers.

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